National Seminar

Look North East to Act North East: Negotiating Cultural Diversity and other Contesting Issues

22^nd to 23^rd September 2019

Sponsored by

MAKAIAS (Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies)

Organized by

Nehru College, Pailapool, Cachar, Assam, India

Call for papers

Nehru College, Pailapool, Cachar, in collaboration with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies(MAKAIAS), Kolkata is going to organise a National seminar on the theme “Look North East to Act North East: Negotiating Cultural Diversity and other Contesting Issues” from 22^nd to 23^rd September 2019. Original and unpublished research papers are invited from teachers, researchers and interested participants for presentation at the seminar.

Concept Note

In 1991, Indian Foreign policy had a watershed moment as the country shifted her conventional trade focus from its western shores to the verdant Eastern horizons, stretching deep into our South East Asian Neighbourhood. Thus, the vision of Look East was born.  The aim was to refresh political ties, forge regional security, cooperation and develop economic linkages by increasing integration with Southeast Asia.  From that distant dream of bridging the ASEAN brotherhood, India has come a long way indeed to arrive at the Act East Policy initiated in 2014.

Truly, ever since India transformed its Look East policy to Act East, there have not been any looking back and continuous efforts are in place to make this initiative practical and result oriented. No more a mere economic strategy, today’s Act East policy of India is an inclusive vision that gives voice to a mottled bouquet of interests.  Relying on the 3 C's : Culture, Connectivity and Commerce, it plays on many a diverse chord – from Counter- terrorism initiative to Maritime Cooperation, and from Cultural exchange to Cyber security Capacity Building.

Promising as it is, the Act East approach has its own challenges though. Among the several of those, one is its many binaries with North-East India. The country’s gateway to the southeast Asia- as the region is often called- it is one of the most diverse, culturally rich and naturally endowed regions as well. It is a land where multiple ethnicities reside; every ethnic community has a history and shares a cultural memory. There exists tension among these communities and the conflict of space and identity is further intensified by immigrant forces and acculturation. With a narrative of decades old economic deprivation, political exploitation and cultural aggression, this region is sure to play a decisive role in the future course of India’s Act East policy.

The proposed two day National Seminar anticipates an intellectual deliberation on the multifaceted and evolving contours of the Act East Policy and its myriad footprints on the social, economic, cultural as well as political texture of North East India, in order to contribute and make substantive inputs to a meaningful realization of the policy. Furthermore, as many eminent scholars of Cultural Studies, Sociologists, Historians and Economists of international repute have kindly consented to grace the seminar, we envisage positioning the thinking minds from diverse academic stratas together, resulting into some truly enlightening dialogues and discourses.

Sub- themes

1.                  Theorizing Multiculturalism

2.                  Language and Cultural Diversity in North East India

3.                  Look North East to Act North East :  Contexts

4.                  Democracy and Diversity: Political Participation and Representation

5.                  Human Rights and Civil Rights in the North East India : Assertions and Violations

6.                  Issues of Ethnicity, Migration, Identity

7.                  Cultural Diversity and Contesting Issues: Representations  in Literature

8.                  Oral Traditions of  North East Societies: Issues of Acculturation

9.                  Folk Traditions of Northeast: Challenges in the Context of Globalization

10.              Role of Translation in North East India

11.              Tourism in North East: Problems and Prospects

12.              Issues of Transport and Communication in North East India

Submission and Registration guidelines:

Abstracts (250-300 words, with maximum 5 key words, MS Word, font size 12 points, Times New Roman with 1.5 spacing, justified, 3 cm margin on all sides) should be sent to nehrucollege.seminar@gmail.com on or before 25^th August, 2019. All abstracts will be scrutinized through blind review by the editorial board. The selected authors shall be informed individually via their respective emails.

Shortlisted authors must submit full papers (5000 – 7000 words) on or before 20^th September 2019 without fail. Details for the article format will be communicated at a later stage. Each participant will be given 20 minutes for oral presentation on the day of seminar. (subject to change, depending on the number of participants in each technical session). 

Registration:

Selected participants have to go through the registration process on arrival, on the opening day of the seminar, paying an amount of Rs.1000 (with paper) or Rs.500 (without paper). In case of multiple authors for a single presentation, all participating authors must pay Registration fee individually. 

Accommodation:
The Organizing Committee may assist the outstation participants in arranging the accommodation and the payment in this regard has to be be made by the paricipants to the concerned Hotel/Guest House. The information in this regard has to be made at least three days before the event.

Travelling Allowances:  
There is no provision for travelling allowance, however free return bus service will be provided from Silchar to the venue (Nehru College) and vice versa on both the days, initiating from a common pickup point at Silchar.

  Professor Dipendu Das

   Patron, Organizing Committee

   President, Governing Body

   Nehru College, Pailapool

   Dean, SKC School of English & Foreign Language Studies

   & Professor, Department of English

   Assam University, Silchar

   Dr. Purnendu Kumar

   Chairperson, Organizing Committee

   Principal

   Nehru College, Pailapool

 

   Dr. Shuvajit Chakraborty

   Coordinator , Organizing Committee

   Associate Professor, Department of Political Science

   Nehru College, Pailapool, Cachar. Assam

   Phone : +91 – 9435172649

    

   Mrs. Madhumita Das

   Joint Coordinator , Organizing Committee

   Associate Professor, Department of History

   Nehru College, Pailapool, Cachar. Assam

   Phone : +91 – 9435071006

   Dr. Indranil Dey

   Joint Coordinator , Organizing Committee

   Assistant Professor, Department of English

   Nehru College, Pailapool, Cachar. Assam

   Phone : +91 – 9435175355

How to reach the college

https://goo.gl/maps/VvnHuyxPnw4EZ8xB8

About the place and the College

Surrounded by hills from three sides – the Barail Range on the north, the West Manipur Hills on the East, and the Mizo hills on the south, Nehru college is located along the southern banks of the sinuous steams of Chiri River at the picturesque locales of Pailapool, 25 km eastwards from the city of Silchar. Set at the heart of green paddy fields, lavish tea gardens and inviting pineapple gardens, the college is indeed an ‘anthropological garden’ itself, that has been for the last 50 years, a centre of learning and knowledge to students from communities as diverse as Bengalis, Biharis, Manipuris, Tribes from Tea gardens, Hmars, Khasis, Rongmeis, Chirus, Kukis, Rajbongsis, Dimasas and even more.

Venue:

Conference Hall of the college

Edited Books- Call for Research Papers

Call for Research Papers

Dear All,

It is a matter of pleasure to inform you that we are going to edit a series of books with the below mentioned titles. Authentic, scholarly and unpublished research papers are invited from scholars/ faculty/ researchers/ writers from all over the world. The call for Paper will be circulated globally to make the volumes enriched with thoughts from all over the world.

Titles of the Volumes:

1.      Post-Independence Indian Women English Poets

2.      Postcolonial African Literature in English

3.      Partition Narratives: Memory, Trauma and Recovery

Proposed Publisher: The volumes proposed to be published by the globally reputed publication house, Sarup and Sons.

Deadline for submissions: 31 Oct 2018

Intimation of Acceptance: 30 Nov 2018

Mail for Submission: deyanup1@gmail.com/ subhajit.bhadra@gmail.com

Publication fees: publication charge for each chapter is Rs. 1000. The publication fees will be received after the paper is accepted and processed by the editor and the Publisher. Each contributor will be provided a complimentary copy.

Editors

1)      DR. ANUP KUMAR DEY
Associate Professor & Head
Department of English
Assam University (A Central University), Diphu Campus
P.O. Diphu, District. Karbi Anglong, Assam - 782462
Contact Nos. +917002504730/ +918876909239 / +919436132468

      2)      Subhajit Bhadra
             Assistant Professor
             Post Graduate Department of English
             Bongaigaon College
             Assam-783380
             Contact No- 9957858903

Editing Requirements:

·         Font & size: Times New Roman 12,
·          Spacing: One and half margin: 1 inch in all four sides.
·         Title of the paper: bold, Sentence case (Capitalize each word), centered
·         Text of the paper: Justified.
·         References: The authors must strictly follow MLA 7th edition in their papers.
·         Articles should be submitted as MS Word attachments only
·         Manuscript must be in Microsoft Word 2007
·         The length of article: Minimum 3500 words.
·         Abstract: Not more than 250 words.
·         Keywords: 5 to 8.
·         Manuscript must be written in English.
·         Each manuscript must bear a self-declaration signifying its originality and that it has not been published or sent for publication elsewhere.

A brief-bio note showing academic qualifications and achievements should be attached in a separate sheet.

A Two-Day National Seminar

Civilizational and Cultural Traditions of Northeast India: Exploring the Links

18th & 19^th April 2018

Organized by:

Department of English

Assam University, Diphu Campus
P.O. Diphu, Karbi Anglong, Assam-782462

In Collaboration with

 Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS)

(An Aotonomoues Body under the Ministry of Culture)

 Government of India

IB 166, Sector III, Salt Lake
Kolkata   700106

About the Seminar

Northeast India has its own history, cultures, legends and myths and in spite of geographically located at the remotest corner of so-called mainland India, its presence in India’s history, mythologies and literatures is very powerful. Many places of Northeast India find mentions in ancient Indian texts and particularly in the Mahabharata. The tales of Rukhmini, Usha, Bhagadutta, Hidimba, Chitrangada, Ulupi, Ghatotkacha, Babrubahan, Iraban etc. have been passed down through generations in the form of popular folklores in Northeast India. The anthropologists are of the view that the region was primarily inhabited by mongoloids and pre mongoloids settlers before the times of the Vedas and they were referred to as Kiratas in Yajurveda, Atharvaveda and the Mahabharata.

Again, there are also a group of historians and anthropologists who consider that it is purely by an accident in history that Northeast formed a part of India. The social formation in the so-called mainland India and Northeast India is far from being homogenous and it is a forceful effort to link up with one another culturally and politically.

In the literature of the Karbis, one is primarily reminded of their oral literature as Karbi literature did not have a written form till the 19th century, all elements of folklore, like social rituals, legends, historical tales, ballads of love and separation, folksongs of Ram-Ravan (Sabin Alun), fables etc. prove the linkage with the cultural tradition of India.

The same cultural linkage is found in the case of Dimasa, an indigenous community of people inhabiting Assam and Nagaland states in Northeast India. Dimasa mythology says that they are the children of Bangla Raja (Earthquake God) and the great divine bird Arikhidima. Ancient Dimasa tradition maintains that sixty thousand Moon months (Lunar months) ago, they left their ancestral land when it suffered a severe drought. According to a legend, the royal family descends from Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima of the Mahabharata fame, and Hidimbi, a princess of the Dimasa people. According to Hindu mythology, Dimapur is said to have been named after Hidimba. Dimapur is a corruption of Hidimbapur, meaning the city of Hidimba of Mahabharata, who is believed to be the progenitor of the Dimasas.

Although for the last one hundred years most of the Mizo people are practicing Christians, but in the Pre-colonialist Mizos were ‘animists’ in the language of the colonial historians. Today, approximately 90% of Mizo are Christian, and only 10% are ‘animist’ in that they worship nature (e.g., the sun, the moon, rivers, and mountains) and their religious cosmology is consisting of a high God called Pathian who rules the macrocosm or the world beyond the community, and a microcosm consisting of the numerous spirits, both good and bad. Just like Shiva in Saivism or Bishnu in Vaisnavism, Pathian in pre-colonial Mizo religion “absorb the nature and functions of the rest and the other Gods become different manifestations of one supreme deity known by other different names in different aspects”.

The oral narratives of Zeme Naga speak of the Myth of “Tingwang”, the supreme God who created the heavenly bodies and the son “Banglawang” who was the first ruler of the world links the ancient Indian myth of creation. The tribes of Arunachal Pradesh such as Galos, Adis, Apatanis, Nishis, Hill Miris, and Mishings follow the religion of Donyi-Polo which focuses on the worship of the sun and moon, considered the eternal watch deities of the supreme gods, Bo and Bomong. “A follower of Donyi-Polo believes in the oneness of all living creatures, from the tiniest of organisms to the mightiest of animals, and that every living creature has a role to play in his or her life. They believe that a spirit (or soul) resides within all men, plants, animals, and the land that nourishes them, having a strong connection with humans.” (Naina) Similar myths are also found among the other communities of Northeast India which establishes the fact that the region was never delinked from the civilizational and cultural tradition of the so-called mainland India.   

So, Northeast India as wrongfully projected is not culturally delinked from the so-called mainland India in spite of having heterogeneous cultural traits. The colonial authorities adopted a policy of segregating the hills and plains people which has been continued by the wrong policies of governments after the independence of India. The oral narratives of these communities of Northeast India are great treasure houses that can challenge this hegemonic concept of unbridgeable heterogeneity and can establish linkages with the similar types of narratives, both oral and written, in other parts of India.  

It is in this context the proposed seminar is envisioned to generate a constructive debate around the above theme and also the following sub-themes.

Sub-themes:

• Cultural History of Northeast India and its connection with the so-called Mainland
• Myths and Legends and their interconnections
• Religious practices and exploring their roots with Ancient India
• Shared values of different ethnic communities of Northeast India and exploring the connections with the rest of India
• Indigenous cultural practices existing parallel to accepted modern religions/lifestyle.
• British policy of ‘excluded areas’ or ‘partially excluded areas’ and its impact in fracturing of the Northeast
• Role of Festivals and other cultural conglomerations in bridging the fracture
• Common historic Past – trade, people and culture
• Cultural connections in oral traditions

About MAKAIAS:

The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian studies is a centre for research and learning with focus on social cultural, economic and political / administrative developments in Asia from the middle of the 19th Century onwards with special emphasis on their links with India, and on the life and works of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Till date, the emphasis had been on specialising on modern and contemporary affairs in South Asia, central Asia and West Asia, and carrying on area studies on the five Central Asia Republics of the former Soviet Union (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan), Turkey, Iran Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Institute now looks forward to widening its area of study to the Northeast region of India, Southeast Asia and China.

About the Department of English, AUDC:

The Department of English at Diphu Campus of Assam University had its inception in 2007 and it offers Post Graduate Course in English as well as M.Phil and Ph.D programmes by Course Work. The MA syllabus (CBCS) in addition to basic courses put special focus on contemporary theoretical development, Indian writing in English, American Literature, Postcolonial Studies and English Language Teaching. The research scholars who are pursuing Ph.D and M.Phil are working on multiple areas of research viz. Northeast Literature, Contemporary Black British Literature, Postcolonial Literature, Feminist literature, American Literature, Indian writings in English, Literatures from the Sub-continent, Drama Studies etc.

How to Reach Diphu Town:

Diphu town is well connected by road, train and by air. Diphu town is connected with two airports. The nearest airport is Dimapur (Nagaland) located about 50 kilometers and Guwahati International airport which is located about 250 kilometers from Diphu town. Train connectivity is available from Guwahati and Dimapur to Diphu. Direct train services are also available from all the major cities of the country.

Guidelines for Abstract and Full Paper:

Research Papers are invited from the teachers of colleges, universities, research institutes, professionals, academicians, research scholars from Northeast and other parts of India on the above mentioned themes. The research papers based on field study will be preferred for presentation in the seminar. The abstract and full text of the paper should be sent to the Seminar Coordinator, Dr. Anup Kumar Dey, Department of English, Assam University (A Central University), Diphu Campus, Diphu, Karbi Anglong (Dist), Assam-782462. The guidelines for submission of abstracts and full papers are as follows.

Abstract

• The abstract should not exceed 250 words.
• It should include title of the abstract the author’s name, designation, institutional affiliation, contact address, contact number, E-mail ID.
• Authors are requested to send the abstract through E-mail to the ID: deyanup1@gmail.com latest by April 10, 2018.

Full Paper

• The length of full paper including tables, diagrams, illustrations, references, etc. should be between to 6000 to 8000 words.
• The full paper should be in English and typed in MS-Word in Times New Roman with font size 12 and 1.5 spaced.
• References/Notes should be given at the end of the text.
• The selected full version of papers should be submitted in soft copy latest through E-mail to the ID: deyanup1@gmail.com latest by April 15, 2018.

A Committee will review the abstracts and full papers and information regarding acceptance, modification, rejection and presentation shall be communicated to the authors subsequently. A limited number of selected papers presented in the seminar will be published in a reputed international publication. 

Registration Fees details:

Faculty, Professionals, Academicians:            Rs.1000/

Research Scholars:                                          Rs.  500/

Important Dates:

Abstract Submission:              Latest by April 10, 2018

Full Paper Submission:           Latest by April 15, 2018

Seminar Presentation:             18-19 April, 2018

Venue:   Department of English, Assam University, Diphu Campus

Accommodation:
Accommodation will be provided on behalf of the organizer to all the selected participants if the confirmation of participation is communicated by April 13, 2018. 

Organizing Committee:

Chairperson:    Professor Sivasish Biswas, Pro Vice Chancellor, Assam University, Diphu Campus

Coordinator:   Dr. Anup Kumar Dey, Associate Professor & Head i/c, Department of English, Assam University, Diphu Campus

Members:       

Dr. B. C. Dash, Associate Professor, Department of English, Assam University, Diphu Campus

Dr. Indu Swami, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Assam University, Diphu Campus

Sri Amlanjyoti Sengupta, Department of English, Assam University, Diphu Campus

Dr. Shreyashi Mukherjee, Department of English, Assam University, Diphu Campus

Dr. Sumi Daadhora, Teaching Assistant, Department of English, Assam University, Diphu Campus